With technology and online platforms consistently developing, every aspect of our lives including art has grown, developed and transcended the tangible world to take on a life of its own in the digital realm. 21-year-old Layan Raed Al Samahiji, one of Bahrain’s finest upcoming digital artists, spoke to Woman This Month about her inspirations, ideas and multidimensional art.
Digital art is a relatively new form of the medium which has been a staple of civilisation for thousands of years. At times it has struggled for legitimacy amongst traditional or even elitist naysayers who see it as inferior to ‘the old way’, but with a new generation of supremely creative artists and a growing acceptance of technology, these attitudes are diminishing.
This comes as no surprise to those who have seen the work one of the Kingdom’s young, enthusiastic creators, of which Layan Raed Al Samahiji represents the pinnacle. The visionary artist creates futuristic digital art in a kaleidoscope of colours that merges recognisable locations with celestial imagery and more to create an image that is quite magical… to say the least. The Bahrain Bayan School graduate is currently in her final year studying ¬Business with Marketing Management in Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK.
Becoming an Artist
Layan’s journey began with her passion for drawing and painting when she was just four years old. “I come from a family of artists of different mediums,” she says. “I was easily inspired by so much creativity and I am so grateful that my mother instilled a love for art in me. I’ve been displaying artwork on my Instagram account since 2016, but took it more seriously in 2018, right after I completed the International Baccalaureate course in high school and graduated.”
Since then, Layan has been able to share her mind-bending art with an ever-growing audience while steadily increasing her digital footprint, and gaining notoriety and recognition in the Kingdom and beyond.
“I know my fan base grows when I post regularly as people share my work, reaching many accounts, and expanding my fanbase. I am really grateful to know that there are people who support the effort I put into my work and all of the support has helped me find the lighthouse that illuminates my creative journey,” she says.
“I’ve also been able to meet and collaborate with many other great creators,” says the young artist modestly.
Digital art can come in many forms including animations, photographs, illustrations, videos, digital paintings and more, but Layan originally started out with traditional zentangle designs. These are meditative, relaxing doodles in the form of geometric patterns. “I created various mandalas and zentangles based on my imagination, finding a fun and inspiring idea of different colours and repeating patterns. This was very therapeutic for me,” she says.
Exploring the Cosmos
“Even though I have had a dramatic change in my art since the start of the pandemic, switching my art environment from traditional to semi-digital and bringing all my drawings by hand to psychedelic and cosmic animations was a very big step forward for me,” she explains.
The main themes of Layan’s work revolve around the concepts of sci-fi and space that mesmerise the viewer. “The themes create a heavenly atmosphere with a psychedelic aspect that takes them on a journey through many galaxies and alternate realities,” she enthuses, adding that she characterises her art as multidimensional.
“My inspiration comes mainly from my surroundings: the music I listen to, watching creative music videos, reading quotes, feeling old memories and, most importantly, my love and obsession with science fiction and astronomy. I’m also inspired by my favourite movies such as Spider-Man, Interstellar, and Back to the Future,” she adds.
When delving more into the intricate details of the universe, the young artist realised that the concept of the universe is equally beautiful and frightening. “The idea that we are looking for other planets with stars and some form of life that have been around for trillions of years shows that we are not only in the universe, we are part of it. Many people find this concept interesting and resonant,” she says.
Creatives of Bahrain
The Kingdom of Bahrain is no stranger to creativity with musicians, poets, writers, artists and more thriving on the island; so, it’s no surprise that its artistic talent pool continues to expand rapidly. In order to further cultivate it, Layan decided to create a platform to bolster it. Thus, Creatives of Bahrain was launched online in July 2020 with the goal of inspiring and supporting local creators in the Kingdom who use the platform to generate amazing content and also find the right audience.
“During the pandemic, writers and artists were incredibly invested in promoting their work remotely. My vision with CoB is to help local talent expand their platform and earn the recognition they deserve. The account has a broad target audience of different creative categories, with an audience including young people and adults across the world,” she says.
Challenges – A Part of the Process
Despite her amazing work, Layan details some of the issues she faces as a content creator and how it isn’t always smooth sailing. “Firstly, the biggest challenge I face when making art is the art block phase, which is similar to writer’s block,” she explains.
“This usually lasts for several weeks. Sometimes it can be very challenging to stare at a blank canvas without finding the right inspiration. There’s also something wild about the concept of maintaining an online presence as an artist by posting regularly, and learning the right skills to market my art on a daily basis because analytics can be very distracting,” she says, adding that the process can be exhausting and demoralising to many creators since the value then becomes more about algorithms and less about the work.
The second major problem, as highlighted by Layan, is plagiarism. “As an artist, plagiarism is the scariest and most hurtful thing to me because I’ve encountered many instances where my art was stolen, copied or reposted without giving credit,” she laments.
“I think it’s important to implement a fair use policy and credit artists on social media because it shows appreciation and recognition of their work and intellectual property. I’m currently in the process of copyrighting my artworks and learning licensing properties,” she says.
Onwards and Upwards
As for her future plans, Layan is currently collaborating with Bahrain-based musician Xenai (@xenaimuzik), who was featured in Bahrain This Month recently, with the goal of creating cover art for individual songs. As part of the collaboration, each track features a different planet, so each one takes you to a different world with its own unique vibe.
As Layan puts it: “We’re basically creating a galaxy together.”
Artistically, she plans on working with new mediums of art and going back to her Zentangle roots, incorporating it with her new digital art style. She also hopes to open her own NFT (Non-Fungible Token) shop where she can sell her work.
Currently, all of Layan’s works are available for purchase at the online store redbubble.com. The site has different product categories such as accessories, phone cases, wall art, hoodies and stickers.
To check out Layan’s work, follow @magnanimousbylayan on Instagram, visit www.opensea.io/MagnanimousByLayan or www.redbubble.com/people/layanraed/shop?asc=u. You can also keep up with Creatives of Bahrain on Instagram using the handle @creatives.of.bahrain.
